Hideaway
by hettylange
Summary: This was going to be the case of the year, 7 murders and counting! Nell is put undercover, but this is something she was never trained for. Eric worries about Nell, and some mutual feelings may be discovered. (Neric based fic.)
1. Chapter 1

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I do not own any of these characters unfortunately they belong to CBS.**

**ALSO this is my first fanfiction EVER so it would really mean a lot if you could review it, and let me know if there are any errors. It's a short chapter to start but if you like it I'll write more. Thank you!**

It was early Tuesday morning when Nell got a rude awakening from her cell phone. She reached over to her side table, grabbed her phone, and held it above herself, so the light was bright in her eyes. She opened a message sent from Hetty that read, _red alert, ops ASAP_. She clicked out of the message to check the time; it was 4:57 am. Half awake, she stepped out of bed and walked down to her kitchen to start a pot of coffee. She knew that she had to be quick to get to work; since it wasn't often you got a red alert message from Hetty. She slipped out of her pyjamas and threw on jeans and a t-shirt. Normally she liked to wear a cute dress, to try and impress Eric, her dorky co-worker, although she wouldn't admit it. When she was done dressing, she washed her hands and face, brushed her teeth, and gathered her things for the day. By the time all of this was done her coffee was ready. She poured the steamy beverage into a to-go cup and was out the door.

When she arrived at work the rest of the team had already been there waiting, all looking sleep deprived.

"Good morning Nell" Eric said flashing a smile

"Morning" She half smiled "So what's going on? Why did we all get called in so early?" Nell questioned the team, wearing a worried expression.

"Hetty hasn't said much yet, I think she's waiting for the whole team to be ready, we should go let her know everyone is here now" Kensi replied, she herself was confused as to why they had all been called in so early.

They walked over to Hetty's desk as a team, all with puzzled faces, and waited for her to explain.

"We have a case" She started to explain.

"That's obvious" Deeks cut in, Hetty shot him a look and he took a step back. Nell exhaled a small laugh causing Eric to smile.

"This isn't any case; someone is going on a killing spree, murdering everyone that works at Hammer Security. So far 7 employees have been confirmed dead and 2 reported missing. It is your responsibility to find out who is responsible. We have brought in extra NCIS analysts to help out in OPS." Hetty fully explained, "Now you all have a job to do so get at it, oh and Ms. Jones I would like you to come with me"

This had Nell worried, what could Hetty want with her? She hadn't done anything wrong had she? All these questions racing through her mind made her tense up. Eric sensing this gave a small squeeze on her shoulder and whispered, "You got this Nell, don't worry" Eric flashed a bright smile allowing Nell to relax slightly.

The rest of the team scattered throughout the building while Nell stayed with Hetty. Hetty wasted no time in explaining to Nell what she had to do.

"Ms. Jones, I will need you to work undercover on this operation. You will take over the alias Maria as the head of computer software at Hammer Security. We all know very well that you have the knowledge to perform this task. You will arrive to the job site promptly at 8 am, which currently gives you 2 hours to devise a plan on solving these murders, there are no suspects as of yet, but I assume the team has already started looking for one." Hetty had a stern look at her face which meant Nell should get right to work.

"Is that all?" Nell was worried to forget something.

"That is all Ms. Jones" Hetty nodded her head as to allow Nell to be dismissed.

Nell made her way up to ops, wishing she could stay here and work the case with her partner Eric. Ever since she started working here a few years back her and Eric had become really great friends. Nell didn't like having to lie to her other friends and family about her job. She especially hated if there was a really tough case that caused her to lie about her awful day to her friends, when all she wanted was someone to comfort her. With Eric she didn't have to lie, because he was there with her. There was times when she would crash on his couch, or him on hers, after a long day's work. Them being together most of the time, they really understood each other. Sometimes she would find herself blushing when he said how nice she looked, or smiling whenever he smiled. _It's just a little crush_ she would tell herself.

When she walked through the doors of OPS Eric was waiting for the full details of Hetty and Nell's conversation.

"So, anything I should know about?" Eric asked still a bit concerned for Nell.

"I've got to go under cover on this case. I'll be working at Hammer Security under the alias Maria, head of computer software" Nell's explanation still had Eric tense. "You okay Eric? Why are you acting so weird?"

"No… what? No. I'm okay I just umm… don't want you to get hurt or anything" Eric's voice was getting quieter until he was no longer speaking.

"Eric" Nell moved closer to him, "Everything is going to be fine, you know I've got the training and I've been undercover before." She tried to comfort Eric although she herself was still worried.

"I know" He exhaled, "It's just that 7 people are dead and 2 are missing, and it's not every day we get called in at 5 in the morning to work a case. I just want you to be safe" Eric confessed, he slouched down timidly. She had to admit him worrying about her was adorable.

"Hey, you'll be with me the entire time" Nell smiled, pointing to the ear pieces on the table behind them. "Now that that's settled we should get back to work. Want to help me work out the details for my cover story?" she asked, already knowing he would say yes.

"Of course I do" He replied as they walked over to their computers.

**If you enjoyed this and want to read more please let me know. Any feedback is great!**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: I do NOT own any of these characters as they are property of CBS.**

**PLEASE review if you liked it or if you have any corrections. Don't worry the story will get better in the next few chapters I promise!**

As Nell and Eric sat at their computers they started to notice a lot of unfamiliar faces around them. Hetty had said they were bringing in extra people to help with the case but, they had never expected this many people. The doors to OPS slid open, "Ms. Jones, Mr. Beale there is someone I would like to introduce you to." Hetty's voice echoed through the room. With her, stood a tall woman with light brown hair, folders in her arms held up against her chest. Neither Nell or Eric had ever seen her before, she was new.

"This is Natalie, she will be accompanying you, Mr. Beale, while Nell is away undercover. At this time it is hard to say how long she'll be here so play nice" Hetty directing that last comment to Eric. Nell and Eric had worked with each other so often that neither of them enjoyed working with other people. Although Nell could never fully admit, she was jealous. She was jealous that this new girl, Natalie, would get to spend time with Eric, _Her_ Eric. That was supposed to be her job, working up in OPS helping her partner, not hidden away at some security company working undercover. All she could hope for was that this operation would be done with soon so she could continue to work with Eric.

"Hello, I would like you to understand that I am not here to take over your job, I'm just here to work the case and be done." Natalie directed to Nell

"Yes, I understand no need to worry. I'm Nell by the way, and this is Eric" Nell said pointing to Eric. Her voice was stern as she still didn't like the idea of Eric working with someone else. She never would.

"I'm Natalie, as you just heard." She smiled "Okay, now that the introductions are through I suggest we get Nell ready for her undercover job, so she can be on her way." Although Natalie was genuine, Nell still felt as if Natalie was trying to get rid of her. Eric could see the worried expression on Nell's face. He knew he could help to comfort her he just had to get her alone, but first they needed to find out some details.

"So, right now we know there is a murderer running crazy at Hammer Security" Eric starting the new topic. "And Nell needs to go undercover to be on the inside"

"And?" Natalie wanting to know more

"That's it, that's all we know" Nell said shyly, suddenly feeling intimidated by Natalie.

"Right now, we have Nell under the name Maria" Eric continued walking towards the large touch screen with an iPad in hand. Nell stayed working at her computer "She's going to be head of computer software, trying to get to know the employees to see if there is motive for the murders"

"Yes, I just made an ID for the alias, it's printing now. I should probably get down to the equipment room to grab what I need for the case. Talk to Deeks and Kensi, see if they know any new information." Nell began to feel confident again.

"Yes, I'll go with you" Eric blurted out a little too excited. This had Nell smiling like a child.

"Let's get to it then" She said as they headed for the door.

* * *

Natalie walked downstairs to see Kensi and Deeks laughing at their desks. "Shut up Deeks" Kensi said punching him lightly on the shoulder "it's not funny"

"Oh it's hilarious you just don't understand the joke" Deeks refuted.

"No it's-" Kensi started to speak but was cut off by the arrival of Natalie in the bullpen "You must be Natalie" Kensi assumed, now ignoring Deeks and looking at the unfamiliar face.

"Yes, I am. Any knew information?" She asked wanted to get right to work. Natalie wasn't one to joke; she liked to get her work done quickly.

"We know that the 7 murders all took place on the firewall and computer software floors of Hammer Security. The 2 missing people, both former navy, came from head of finance. Sam and Callen are talking with the local police to find out anything useful. Right now we assume this is inside job." Kensi explained the newly learned information to Natalie.

"Now we are just waiting for Nell to get undercover, and any information Sam and Callen can give us before we continue" Just as Deeks said this, the pair of male partners entered the building. They walked briskly over to the bullpen to not keep them waiting any longer. "Any news?" Deeks questioned Sam and Callen.

"According the head chief of police the building had been search, we assume by the killer. Head of firewalls, Rick Hanson, says many files were stolen, however, they don't know what was in those files for security purposes." Callen said, annoyed by this Rick Hanson character. "I would keep an eye on Hanson, he seems a little sketchy"

"Sounds like someone else we know" Sam laughed, glancing over at Deeks.

"What me? No, I'm not sketchy am I? Kensi?" Deeks seemingly worried, but Kensi just laughed a shook her head

* * *

Eric and Nell were quiet when they arrived in the equipment room. It was a few long minutes before anyone said anything; it was Eric who spoke first.

"So are you nervous?" He asked

"What?" Nell was confused

"Are you nervous about the case?" Eric explained more clearly

"Oh right, the case. If I'm being honest then yes I'm a little scared" Nell admitted shyly.

"Hey look at me" Eric walking closer to Nell, "You've got nothing to worry about" Eric secretly enjoyed making Nell feel better. They had become really close friends and even more recently he even developed a little bit of a crush on her, but he would never tell her out of fear of ruining their friendship.

"I know, it's just 7 people are dead and well I like working with you" Nell's voice got quieter near the end of her sentence.

"I like working with you too, so let's get this case done with so we can work together again." He smiled his bright smile.

"Sounds like a plan" Nell smiled back at him.

The two of them spent the next twenty minutes in silence, making sure Nell had everything she needed, including her ear piece, iPad, and gun. They had gotten everything packed up in an over the shoulder bag, Nell was just about to leave, when Eric stopped her. He put a hand on her shoulder turning her around and said, "No matter what happens with this case you will always be my partner, Natalie is only temporary. I promise." Eric smiled as he spoke honestly. Nell couldn't help but smile; she also started blushing since this comment from Eric had caught her off guard.

"Thanks Eric" Nell said staring into the dreamy eyes that looked back at her.

They left the equipment room together, but it was time for Nell to go, so she went to go find Hetty, and Eric went back up to OPS.

* * *

"Ah Ms. Jones I assume you have thoroughly prepared your alias and are now read to arrive at Hammer Security." Hetty sipped her tea the moment after she spoke.

"Yes, everything is set and ready" Nell articulated as Hetty handed her keys to the teams Toyota Camry, a common car to avoid detection while undercover. Nell grabbed the keys from Hetty and was on her way. As she was leaving she heard Eric through the virtually invisible ear piece she was wearing, "Good luck rock star" He whispered. Nell was happy no one could see her now, as she left, because she was sure he face was the brightest shade of red it has ever been. She got into the car throwing her bag on the passenger seat, pulled out of the parking lot and made her way to Hammer Security.

**AN: If you liked it please leave a review. If you have any comments or suggestions to making this story better, again please just leave a review as it would really help me out a lot. If you follow the story I will love you forever :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Sorry it took ages for an update, I had exams then my computer broke for 43 days :/ anyway this story will pick up in the next few chapters. Also I'm thinking about doing the next chapter from Eric's point of view what do you think? I do not own the show or any of its characters. Please review if you want more. Thanks!**

Nell drove with the radio blasting, to clear her mind before going under cover. After what seemed like ages she finally arrived at Hammer Security. She sat in the car for a few short minutes to prepare her ear piece and button cam before going inside.

"Just turned on the ear piece, can you hear me?" Nell said, talking to her ear piece to no one in particular.

"Yes, we can hear you" Natalie responded. Nell was slightly annoyed that it wasn't Eric's voice she heard on the other end.

"Alright I'm going in" She said as she made her way from the parking garage to the large building. It was 100 stories tall, with large windows covering the entire surface, showing the reflections of everything that surrounded the building. As she approached the door a tall man in a suit opened the door. He wore a name tag that read, _Adam._ She made a mental note of this; however she wasn't worried that the door man had much to do with the murders. Looking around she spotted a sign above a long desk that read _information_, she made her way over to the desk.

"Hello, my name is Maria Edwards, I am here to replace the head of computer software" Nell told the woman behind the desk. She looked in her mid-30's with long blonde hair.

"Hi, you're going to want to go up to the 30th floor, elevators on the left just there" She said pointing to the side. "There will be a secretary named Alice, ask for John, and she will lead the rest of the way" The lady smiled and Nell was on her way.

She stepped into the elevator thankful she was the only one inside; this gave her the chance to talk to Eric.

"Hey, I'm in the building. Can you see through my button cam?" Nell asked hoping Eric would be the one to answer.

"All good! Any troubles?" Eric responded quickly, Nell assumed it was because he wanted to respond faster than Natalie. Eric was always very competitive and had a tendency of being very jealous, especially when it came to Nell. She would never say it out loud, but she loved when Eric was jealous of her.

"No troubles yet, but I still have yet to arrive on my floor." Just as Nell said this the elevator dinged and the doors slid open.

"Good luck" This made Nell smile, but she was quick to hid it as right outside the elevator was a desk. Behind this desk sat a small woman, who she assumed was Alice. She approached the woman slowly, careful not to attract too much attention to herself, she didn't want to blow her cover this soon in the game.

"Hello, my name is Maria Edwards; I'm here to see John"

"Ah yes hello." She said as if she was expecting Nell to arrive. "I'm Alice by the way" she introduced herself, reaching out her small hand for Nell to shake. "If you would just follow me I can lead the way" Alice smiled standing up from her desk. Nell followed her for a few short minutes, making mental notes of the floor layout. She wanted to remember all exits and pathways just in case she needed to make a quick getaway. They reached a room near the back of the floor, it was an office. The door was a dark blue colour, and had had a sign that read _John Wilson_. Alice knocked on the door quietly. Nell wasn't sure if John was even able to hear the knocks, until a minute later the door handle turned and a man appeared in front of the two women.

"Hell John, this is Maria Edwards, she'll be taking over for the head of computer software." Alice said, directing her words towards John. She said a quiet goodbye and made her way back to her desk on the opposite side of where they were now.

"Hell Maria, I'm John." He said introducing himself "Come inside" he opened the door and made a gesture with his arm inviting her to come inside and take a seat. John was an attractive man, she wasn't going to lie. He was tall with medium length dark hair. He was also very muscular, not too muscular where it was gross, but just toned enough where it was very attractive. Nell swore she could here Eric scoff in her ear piece. He was probably just jealous of John's looks. Although she had to admit, as much as John was built and well dressed, she preferred Eric's dorky shirts and flip flops.

"So I'm going to go through the details pretty quickly here so you can get right to work" He said looking at Nell

"Your office is the one just to the left of mine. There are no difficult projects that are currently underway, so we can wait to discus that until tomorrow. Today I would just like you to get familiar with the building and also I have put a folder on your desk with a list of addresses, if you could just cross reference the addresses with their phone numbers and put them in the mapping software database that would be great." John smiled and looked at Nell waiting for a response.

"Alright, if that's everything I will be on my way now. Thank You" Nell stood up from the chair and made her way to one office over which now belonged to her. She entered her office making sure to close the door behind her, as she was hoping to video chat with Eric to find out any new information that may be available. She put her belongings down next to her desk, grabbed her laptop out of her bag and turned it on. While waiting for her computer to load she skimmed through the stack of addresses she would have to work with later. Looking through the papers she realized that anybody on this floor would have access to everyone's locations and information. Her computer beeped letting her know it was all loaded up, so she opened up her video chat.

"Hey Eric I'm going to video chat with you now are you busy?"

"Nope, it's all good. Natalie will be here with us" Eric informed Nell of Natalie's presence just so she would be surprised when she saw him.

_Great, _Nell thought sarcastically to herself. The video chat was up and running.

"Hey, guys so I'm up in my office now could you send me some blueprints of the 30th floor, just so I can be sure of the floor layout?" she asked to know one in particular.

"Of course. The blueprints have been sent and you should be receiving them electronically in a few short minutes" Natalie was the one who replied and was sending her the blueprints.

"Thanks." She responded dryly.

"I will go check in with the rest of the team, to see if we have any new information" Natalie stated as she stood up from Nell's swivel chair in OPS. Nell was happy to see her leave, since she was left with Eric.

"Hey rock star how's it going?" Eric made Nell smile. She loved when he called her rock star.

"Pretty good, John seems nice"

Eric scoffed proving to Nell that he was in fact jealous of John's good looks. "He seems like a douche to me" Eric was _definitely_ jealous.

"Hey be nice" Nell laughed; if she had been with him she would have punched him on the arm. "So how is it working with Natalie?"

"Well she's nice, but…" His voice trailed off

"But what?"

"She's not you" Eric said shyly, looking down the entire time. Nell swore her skin turned 10 shades of red darker from blushing. _What did he mean by that? _ She thought to herself, _I'm sure he meant nothing by it,_ but she filled herself with courage and asked anyway.

"What do you mean, 'she's not me'?" Now Eric was the one getting all flustered

"Well…umm... I like you Nell, you know that" he said blushing, still feel shy, even behind a computer screen.

"I like you too, partner" she responded unsure of what he meant by 'like'.

"No, I mean I _like_, like you Nell" She was in shock. She would have never believed that her partner Eric could like her. Not in that way at least. She was unsure of how to respond leaving Eric all awkward on the other side of the screen, that's when she heard a knock on her door.

"Shoot, someone's here go to go bye" She slammed her computer shut not giving Eric a chance to respond. She took a deep breath to compose herself before she stood up and opened the door.

"Hello Maria"

**AN: so what do you think? Is Nell going to admit that she has feelings for Eric? Or will she just forget about it? Who's behind the door? Should Nell be worried? I guess we will just have to wait and see ;) **

**Reviews would also be super helpful (and let me know if I made any mistakes)! The next chapter will be from Eric's point of view what do you think?**


	4. Chapter 4

**I do not own the show or any of its characters.**

The slam of Nell's computer startled Eric; he nearly fell out of his chair. He sighed deeply and ran his hands through his hair. _Why did I just admit my feelings? _He thought to himself _she probably doesn't even like me back. _Ignoring his thoughts he removed his earpiece and went to check on the rest of the team in the bullpen.

"Hey, guys any news?" Eric asked all of his team members hoping for an answer.

"Deeks is an idiot" Kensi chuckled

"That's not new information, kens" Callen stating the obvious fact

"You make an excellent point" Sam laughed and hit Deeks in the back of the head

"Hey!" Deeks yelled, "What was that for?"

Eric carried a confused look as the rest of the team laughed. Clearly he missed something, but that wasn't unusual as they were usually bickering in the bullpen as he was working up in OPS with Nell. This, of course, reminded him that he was no longer working with her at this time, he was working with Natalie. So he turned to a chair in the corner of the bullpen where Natalie was sitting quietly.

"Have you found any new information Natalie?" Eric asked dryly. Natalie stood up, tablet in hand, and made her way over to the large TV screen.

"Yes. I ran a cross reference check to woman named Alice, and employees of Hammer Security. Turns out there is only one Alice that works in the building, Alice Mercer." Natalie pulled up a copy of Alice Mercer's ID on the screen in front of them. "Now I ran a background check, and it appears that she has a history with John Wilson." Natalie clicked a button on the tablet and a handful of photos appeared on the screen. Pictures of Alice and John from what looks to be a banquet of sorts. Sifting through the photos the team saw photos of the two of them getting very personal, to say the least.

"Oh this is interesting" Eric remarked, while looking at the pictures of Alice and John. "I ran a check on John earlier and he is a former military intelligence agent."

The rest of the team stood looking at the screen trying to make any connections between the murders and John's military background.

"Well do you think Alice could have done it?" Kensi asked "What if she wanted information from John, he wasn't going to give it to her, so she does whatever she can to get the info?"

"That's possible, but what would Alice want from John?" Callen joined in the conversation

"Well former military intelligence analyst would have access to a lot of information, it would be difficult to pin point exactly what she was looking for." Sam said, reminding them that this isn't going to be an easy case at hand.

"I'll tell Nell to keep an eye out on Alice, maybe get to know her a little better." Eric declared

"Tell her to watch her back. If Alice is the one responsible for these murders we need to find out where she's hidden the two missing persons and what she's going to do with them" Callen exclaimed.

"Will do" Eric headed back upstairs to Ops, Natalie followed.

* * *

"So do you think Alice could have done it?" Natalie directed to Eric

"I don't know"

Natalie could hear the tension in Eric's voice. She knew that he didn't enjoy working with her, but she wasn't sure why he seemed so upset about this case. _I'm not that bad to work with am I? _Natalie thought to herself. She shrugged it off.

They continued to run background checks on all the staff members of Hammer Security, to see if anyone had any obvious motive. Of course they came up short.

"Everyone has a clean history, other than a few speeding tickets here and there. Whoever is responsible is either not involved with the company at all, or is very good at covering their tracks, and if they can cover their tracks this well we are dealing with something that can go very wrong very fast." Natalie broke the silence. Eric ran his hands through his hair, hoping it isn't the later suggestion.

"Should we have Nell undercover there if there is a chance she's in that much danger?" Eric's mind filled with worry. Nell was almost always on his mind, and now he couldn't stop thinking about all the possibilities of what could happen to her. Natalie saw the look of worry on his face and finally understood, Eric _like,_ likes Nell. It wasn't Natalie who was a bad person, or a bad worker, it was just that Eric was slowly falling in love with his partner.

"You like her don't you?" Natalie knew it was a risky question but asked anyway.

"What? You mean Nell? Of course I do she's my partner"

"No I mean do you love her?" Eric's cheeks turned the brightest shade of red Natalie had ever seen

"Umm what! Love her? I work with her she's my partner that's all. I don't love her and we wouldn't work out anyway 'cause she doesn't like me like that." His nerves were causing him to ramble, as he stared down at his keyboard.

Natalie placed her hand on his, to stop him rambling, "Hey its okay your secret is safe with me." She smiled

"Thanks" He whispered. He could hardly call it a secret though, now that he's confessed to Nell how he feels, and it was apparently obvious to Natalie. Eric couldn't help but think how many other people knew about his feelings for Nell. But these thoughts soon subsided, as he wanted to get back to work, he wanted Nell back as quick as possible after all.

* * *

Nell had composed herself, after hearing Eric's confessions, and stood up to answer the door.

"Hello Maria"

"Oh Hello Alice! Come on in" Nell was incredibly confused as to why Alice would be at her door. Maybe she should be extra careful around her just to be safe; she could be dealing with a life or death situation.

"Sorry if I interrupted anything, I just wanted to see you made it to your office okay"

"Yes, everything is good how are you?"

"I'm great thanks!"

"So what do you think about all the murders? Should I be worried?"

"No, I think your fine, or I mean I hope so anyway because if you're in danger that means I am too" Alice sounded confident, too confident.

"Okay good! However I do have some work to get" She said pointing to the stack of papers on her desk that John had given her

"Alright, I'll leave you to it then" Alice smiled and heading out the door.

Once her office door was closed she relaxed, and sank into her chair. _Eric Beale likes me? _She thought to herself, a smile written across her face. She never thought he liked her in that way, so she always resorted to pushing her feelings for him to the back of her mind. Now things were different. She knew Eric liked her, and deep in her mind knew she liked him back. _What should I tell him? Would the job allow for anything more than friends? Would Hetty?_ Thoughts raced through her mind. She knew she wanted this case to be over so she could see Eric, her _best friend_, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to see Eric, her _something more_. Their friendship meant a lot to her and it wasn't something she wanted to ruin because feelings got in the way, and someone got hurt. All these thoughts, however, were shoved to the side because she had a job to do. Well Maria had a job to do, and it was a job that would easily distract Nell from her thoughts, or so she hoped.

**A/N Sorry it's a short chapter, and not a very good one. Don't worry though it should get better soon. Reviews? *wink wink***


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